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The characteristics of left atrial diverticula in normal sinüs rhythm patients

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, location, size and morphological characteristics of left atrial diverticula using electrocardiographically gated multi-detector computed tomography in patients with normal sinus rhythm.

Methods

Electrocardiographically gated cardiac multi-detector computed tomography was performed in 93 patients with normal sinus rhythm. The prevalence, number, size, morphological characteristics and location of left atrial diverticula were recorded.

Results

A total of 72 left atrial diverticula were diagnosed in 45 (48.4%) of the 93 patients in this study. Of these 72 diverticula, 66 (91.7%) were cystiform and 6 (8.3%) were tubiform. Anterosuperior wall, left lateral wall and septum were the most common locations of these left atrial diverticula (n = 42, 58.3%; n = 22, 15.3% and n = 7, 9.7%, respectively).

Conclusion

Diverticula are common variations. The discovery of these structures is relatively new and their clinical significance remains unclear. They are generally asymptomatic but although not supported by many studies, in some case reports they are claimed to be associated with arrhythmias and thromboembolism. In addition, it is theoretically reasonable to think that they may cause complications during interventional procedures. Better understanding of these structures has the potential to improve management strategies and reduce potential complications. Therefore, they should be reported during routine cardiac computed tomography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Medipol Mega Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, TEM Avrupa Otoyolu Göztepe Çıkışı No: 1, Bağcılar, 34214, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mehmet Şeker

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  1. Mehmet Şeker
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Contributions

MŞ: project development, data collection, data analysis and manuscript writing. The author has approved the manuscript and agreed with its submission to Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehmet Şeker.

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Conflict of interest

The author declared no potential conflicts of interests associated with this study. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of institutional review committee of Istanbul Medipol University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained for all CT examinations from all individual participants included in the study.

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Şeker, M. The characteristics of left atrial diverticula in normal sinüs rhythm patients. Surg Radiol Anat 42, 377–384 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-019-02382-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-019-02382-w

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